The Desolation of Smaug

2013 Peter Jackson

This was not the Desolation, alright, it was the almost desolation.   Without spoiling it, I’ll just tell you that the desolation is still coming, as most of us adults know anyway, because you have to have your trilogy experience built from one novel now.  That’s why the scene/s of dialogue between Bilbo and Smaug inside the mountain were so PROLONGED.  Right.  About 40 minutes from the time Bilbo steps into the gold and starts looking for the Arkenstone is about the time that the conversation finally winds down.  That is after the dragon and all Dwarves exhaust the interior space of all the tunnels under the mountain.

Bilbo should have been dead at least a dozen times over as far as I could tell.  Smaug calls him a thief no less than 8 times.  This is his favorite word, because it translates very well in the mouth of a dragon.

Smaug is truly magnificent and menacing, as he should be, but I’m personally much more terrified of things that I cannot completely see, like in Alien for instance where we never really get a look at the whole beast, but are left some to mystery.  That mystery was completely given away, especially as Smaug pauses in his movement just long enough to reveal his missing scale, to be conveniently shot I’m sure by that one remaining black arrow, in the next, hopefully last Hobbit installation.

Everything was hyper-realized and elongated in this show, like that dialogue with Smaug.  Hey, that rhymes!  So the special effects departments get paid well and eye-candy enthusiasts get their dizzying fix, and poof, we have an excuse for a movie.  Beorn was not my favorite however.  He was just not likable enough as the man person, and his makeup was bad.  Could have done a better job there.

There were cute kids in the village of Laketown, and home-styled warmth aplenty to build up to an eventual destruction, which if you’re read the books, you know is coming.  

But speaking of books, I must say this is not an overall bad enhancement, as the facts are all still there.  Why would they not be?  There’s plenty of time to include them all.  The films are bringing to memory some of them you could forget, such as the healing of Kili's leg with Kingsfoil.  The addition and enhancement of Elvish involvement in the whole Laketown/Elven King enterprise, and the view of the Elven King’s kingdom interior were all magnificent, as were even the jail cells and barrel setups.  Nice work on the part of visualizing that whole experience.  Also the addition of the romance of an Elven sweetheart with deep dimples, matching her with a Dwarf as interested suitor was a nice cinematic touch, not in the book of course, but still not bad.  The river ride was ridiculous and not survivable, as far as I could tell, but of course they did.  Anyone can survive a CG waterfall, although they were supposed to have the lids on the barrels!

The scenes with Gandalf invading Dol Gulder all by himself were well done, especially the wickedly horrifying darkness of the enemy against the light of his staff.  That was truly amazing.  What I want to know however is where Gandalf keeps coming up with new staffs in his future iterations, and also why he didn't look at bit more young in this story since it is some time before the LOTRings.

I loved some of the little touches, like the Dwarves' little picture book with a drawn photo of "my wee lad Gimli".  Funny.

In any case, my reaction to the film overall was that I hated it as an adult.  If you’re a kid, or you have never read the books, I’m sure it was a fun experience, but for me, it is the equivalent of turning great literature into a Disney ride, and an expensive one.